Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Volcanoes of Africa

Although Kilimanjaro, located on the border between Kenya and Tanzania, is likely the most famous volcano on the African continent, there are others.

In the 5th century BC, a Carthaginian navigator observed and recorded the eruption of Mt. Cameroon. And beneath the Afar region of Ethiopia, three tectonic plates are being wrenched apart, causing lava to flow upward.

According to Physorg (2009), a geological crack has opened recently beneath Ethiopia, and some scientists predict that this may split the continent in two.

The US geological survey website makes a similar prediction, with the East African rift being the site of the next rending, a similar process to the one that has already pulled Saudi Arabia off Africa.